A combination of Windows Themes and the technology that puts the yellow 'down' line on the football field, Television Themes allow the viewer to place overlays on any image being broadcast.

When you get tired of watching the police and protestors clash at the next G8 summit, you:

1) Pick up your remote

2) Activate the menu on your television

3) Select your desired Theme

Voila! Now all the protestors are dressed like peasants and are carrying torches and pitchforks, the police look vaguely Musketeer-ish and the surrounding buildings take on a medieval look - including moats, and draw bridges.

Other suggested uses:

Change reruns of the O. J. Simpson white Bronco chase into a (low speed) running of the bulls at Pamplona.

During the next State-of-the-Union address, add Reagan in the background and have Bush Jr. appear as Bonzo.
-- phoenix, Aug 10 2001

I have glimpsed the future and it is so.

Choose your TV channel carefully for they have more money than you and will do it before you ever can.
-- st3f, Aug 10 2001


I'm sorry [st3f], but that went right by me...
-- phoenix, Aug 10 2001


What st3f said was - TV programmers will bake it.
-- thumbwax, Aug 10 2001


What 'wax said. I was trying to be paranoid and just ended up obscure.

The technology is currently being baked. Movies are already showing us the seemless merging of Computer Graphic Images (GCI) with live motion footage. It's a few large steps or a good many small ones for this to be bakeable.
-- st3f, Aug 10 2001


Granted that this can be done in post-production, however what I'm describing is a capability of the television set itself. While this would require some data from the broadcast source (identifying objects in the scene as people, building, sky, water, etc) the overlay would be done locally.
-- phoenix, Aug 16 2001, last modified Aug 21 2001



random, halfbakery